Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Was CIA Operative Outed as Part of White House Smear Campaign? Rush Limbaugh Drug Probe
Aired October 02, 2003 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST (voice-over): The CIA spy leak scandal: can there be a truly independent investigation?
Arnold apologizes. Is it enough?
The hunt for Osama: U.S. forces zero in.
Rush Limbaugh linked to an illegal drug ring. What happens now?
"The Spying Game": tonight, revealing the tricks of the trade.
And, Lisa Kudrow, the wife of a porn star?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: Hey there. Thanks for joining us on 360.
A stunning controversy erupts for Rush Limbaugh, a second one this week, far bigger than the first. Allegations that he has been buying and using prescription drugs illegally. We're going to get to that, but we begin with a story of the CIA leak which, increasingly, has the look of an all-you-can eat political feeding frenzy.
It may be easily obscured, but at the heart of the uproar there is a deadly serious question: was a CIA operative outed as part of a White House smear campaign? And how can the administration fairly investigate itself? That's the question.
White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president maintained his official schedule, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month while the partisan bickering over the CIA leak investigation continued.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig.
MALVEAUX: Democrats insist Attorney General John Ashcroft should appoint a special counsel to conduct the investigation, or at least, because of his close ties to the White House, recuse himself from the process.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The attorney general is so inextricably locked up with the people he's investigating, he can't do a fair job.
MALVEAUX: But the White House press secretary, while not naming names, implied it was Democrats and Ambassador Joe Wilson, whose wife was the subject of the leak, who were playing politics.
SCOTT MCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Unfortunately, there are some that are looking through the lens of political opportunism. There are some that are seeking partisan political advantage.
MALVEAUX: But the majority of Americans, according to a "Washington Post"-ABC News poll, believe there should be an independent investigation, with 29 percent who think Justice should handle the investigation, 69 percent who think a special counsel should. Republicans continue to rally around the White House.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: The only reason that you would appoint a special counsel is if the White House was trying to cover up something or trying to obstruct justice. Nowhere -- that is not the case here, and the Justice Department can handle it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Suzanne, the White House pressed hard for Republicans to present a united front, yet some of them seem to be breaking ranks. What is going on?
MALVEAUX: Well, Anderson, for the most part, Republicans are in lockstep, but there are a few who are taking a harder look at this. Senators Olympia Snowe, as well as Arlen Spector, while they are not calling for Ashcroft to recuse himself, they say of course, it is up to Ashcroft to make that decision. They are saying it is something that he should consider.
COOPER: All right. Interesting development. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much from the White House.
A big legal blow for the government today. The federal judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui case tosses out the death penalty and the most serious charges against the only September 11th suspect in custody. CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The judge's ruling takes away any possibility of the death sentence and bars prosecutors from introducing evidence relating to 9/11. No pictures, no video, no victims.
The penalties were imposed by Judge Leonie Brinkema after prosecutors refused to turn over three high-ranking al Qaeda operatives now in U.S. custody. Prosecutors said it was a matter of national security because what the prisoners say is classified. But Moussaoui argued the alleged 9/11 planners would clear him by backing his claim that he was not part of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, but that he was instead part of a different plot to take place at a different time.
In her opinion, the judge called Moussaoui a minor participant in al Qaeda, saying it simply cannot be the case that Moussaoui can lawfully be sentenced to death for the actions of other members of al Qaeda. Moussaoui, who was taking pilot lessons, was arrested on immigration charges weeks before September 11th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way we read the court's opinion is that it tried to balance the government's national security concerns against Moussaoui's fair trial rights.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors say they're studying the court's opinion, deciding what to do next. The U.S. attorney in charge of the case responded to the judge's ruling, saying "national security will not permit the government to allow Moussaoui, an avowed terrorist, to have direct access to his terrorist confederates."
One option now, transfer the case to a milltrary tribunal. The reason, says former prosecutor Allen Binegrad (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are still serious powerful charges that remain, but I'd say the strongest part of it has now been precluded by the judge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And just a short time ago, we learned that prosecutors will plan on appealing the judge's ruling. They believe that they have a very strong case against Moussaoui, especially in relation to the 9/11 charges. And they feel that if he is convicted he should face the ultimate penalty, which is the death sentence -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Deborah Feyerick, thanks very much.
On now to the trouble for Rush Limbaugh. And if you thought he had trouble yesterday, after his comments about a black quarterback, well that seems like peanuts compared to today. Just after resigning from ESPN for comments deemed insensitive by some, there are new bombshell allegations that his name has turned up as an alleged illegal buyer of prescription painkillers.
Susan Candiotti reports from Miami.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Law enforcement sources tell CNN Rush Limbaugh has serviced (ph) in an ongoing probe into the black market sale of prescription painkillers, including Oxycontin and Hydrocodone in Florida. The drugs can only be legally obtain with a doctor's order. For example, Oxycontin. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's four or five times stronger than heroin. Yes. Like I said, and that's one of its selling points. People know what they're getting.
CANDIOTTI: Authorities say they became aware of Limbaugh when his former housekeeper, Wilma Kline (ph), who lives in this south Florida home, came to them with secretly recorded tape conversations she had with Limbaugh about drug buys. A law enforcement source says investigators are convinced the voice on the tapes belongs to the conservative talk show host.
Our law enforcement source says Limbaugh's former housekeeper claims she met with him at this gas station and other public places to make some of the drug deals over a four-year period. And he initially approached her about sharing pills from her husband's pain pill prescription. The woman claims one of Limbaugh's lawyers paid her about $200,000 for pills.
Limbaugh has issued this statement: "I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me. No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: A law enforcement source says it is unclear whether Limbaugh's alleged drug buys are directly connected to an ongoing investigation into the sale of prescription drugs. That investigation going on in Palm Beach County, Florida. That investigation is targeting suppliers and sellers, and our source tells us that Limbaugh is not a target of that investigation.
It's not known whether he will be charged, and it is unclear whether the woman who allegedly sold him the drugs will be charged or receive immunity in return for her information. The Palm Beach County state attorneys office would not confirm or deny the Limbaugh investigation -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks for the update.
A quick news note for you now. It is estimated that nine million people abuse prescription drugs in this country. And in 2001, nearly a million people abused the power powerful pain killer Oxycontin. We're going to have more on Oxycontin shortly, what it is and why it's become a black market favorite with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
But first, we go on to California, and the big question voters woke up to this morning: does Arnold Schwarzenegger deserve be called the gropinator (ph)? Long-time allegations got a whole new life today in the "Los Angeles Times." A half-dozen women who say Schwarzenegger is a serial harasser. Schwarzenegger answered the charges today with both hands visible at all times.
He said, yes, he had behaved badly and he was sorry. The question now, what, if anything, will it mean next Tuesday? More on the allegations from CNN's Charles Feldman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arnold Schwarzenegger's attitude toward women has been a hot topic of discussion for weeks. But the publication of a seven-week investigation by the "Los Angeles Times" has sent shockwaves through the Schwarzenegger campaign.
According to the "Times" account, six women claimed that the actor-turned-politician groped or sexually humiliated them in various locations, sometimes in front of other people. Some of the alleged incidents, according to the "Times," happened as early as the 1970s, while one allegedly took place as late as 2000.
"Did he rape me?" "No," the "Times" quotes one woman saying. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."
Four of the six women refused to have their names published. Some of them apparently work in Hollywood and fear reprisals from the powerful movie star. A spokesman for the Schwarzenegger campaign told the "Times," "Schwarzenegger has not engaged in improper conduct towards women," and goes on to suggest that the current allegations are part of a political smear campaign.
The "Los Angeles Times" says it did not learn about any of the women from Schwarzenegger rivals. It says it sought the women out, they did not come to the paper.
Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, reaction to the story ran the gamut today. One conservative activist said this: "He may have brought down the whole recall." But one woman said this: "You know how people in the public eye flirt." All in all, quite a day to launch the Schwarzenegger bus tour: the California Comeback Express, that's what they're calling it.
Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley was on board and joins us now with more on the apology and the reaction to it -- Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wow. Well, you're right, it has been a day. This is not the kind of news you want on the kick up of what is your final round before the vote.
As you said, Arnold Schwarzenegger was on a roll. This has really stopped them, at least for today, because there was nothing else talked about. We did get a chance to talk to Mr. Schwarzenegger just a few minutes ago, asked him to explain his earlier remarks and whether what he was saying is that the story in the "La Times" is true or is it false.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Some of these incidents, one was in 2000, they have been sort of over the decades. Some of them are quite graphic, as you know. I mean, touching body parts. Are you saying that's a Hollywood thing?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I don't remember so many of the things that I was accused of having done. OK? So, because of that, I just want to say that, if I've done anything wrong, where I thought that I'm playful and just have fun, maybe I have offended someone.
So, again, I feel bad about that. But the reality is that it's very interesting that all of a sudden now, since I'm ahead in the campaign, and since we are now literally five days away from election, all of a sudden all of those things are coming out, and all of those things to the negative.
In fact, you know, I'm very pro-women and I'm very much into equality. And those sides are not coming out, which is very interesting. And that I always support women. And when I become governor, I will be a champion for women. I will be fighting for women's rights and all those things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: In the end, it hardly matters whether Schwarzenegger's answers satisfy us or not. This obviously is one of those things that is up to the voters. He thinks, and his campaign believes, that voters should see that he has been up front with this issue, something he says Gray Davis is not about matters involving California -- Anderson.
COOPER: Candy Crowley, thanks very much. It will be interesting to see if tomorrow they can get back on the message that they want to be getting out. Candy, thanks.
Let's check what's happening overseas now in tonight's "Up Link."
Pyongyang, North Korea: going nuclear. The communist nation says it finished reprocessing 8,000 fuel rods from a nuclear reactor, a move experts say could lead to production of five or six nuclear weapons. But the U.S. says there is no evidence confirming any of this.
Monrovia, Liberia: deadly firefight. Rebel and government forces clashed just as the last American forces withdrew from the city and a new U.N. peace mission took command. At least four people died.
Bali, Indonesia: bullets for a bomber. The last of four main suspects in the Bali nightclub blast, he has been sentenced to death by firing squad. Obviously showing you the wrong video there -- 202 people died in last year's bombing.
Now we go to Vatican City, Italy: mixed messages. The pope's private secretary plays down recent remarks about the 83-year-old pontiff's failing health and says the comments were taken out of context. Meanwhile, one of Europe's top cardinals, the Vienna archbishop, says the pontiff is "nearing the last days and months of his life."
We go to Havana, Cuba now. A rare and noisy protest over forced evictions. All over the island people are being evicted from homes without getting any compensation. There's a nationwide crackdown on dwellings acquired illegally or built without permits.
And, Lima, Peru: a very, very, well, let's say unique beauty pageant. Take a look. Fifteen convicted criminals at Santa Monica Prison competed for the Miss Spring 2003 crown. From among all the international contestants, a Peruvian won the crown.
This winner, of course, will not get any trips abroad, as they are incarcerated. Instead, she'll get body massages and facial treatments inside the prison. You cannot make this stuff up.
That is tonight's "Up Link."
No evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Bombshell revelations from a top weapons inspector. We'll take you inside the latest intelligence.
Plus, the hunt for bin Laden. Do new raids offer new hope of netting the world's most wanted man?
And a 360 exclusive. A Gitmo chaplain's last interview before he was taken into custody. Does it cast reasonable doubt on suspicions of espionage? Hear the tape for yourself.
But first, let's take a look "Inside the Box" and tonight's top stories on the network evening newscasts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right. We go now to the long-awaited visit to Congress by the man heading the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. His name is David Kay.
Now, one CNN viewer asked on the air today, "Will they be found in my lifetime," talking about the WMD. Well, certainly, it's possible, but it sure hasn't happened yet.
Kay says he needs more time and apparently a whole lot more money. Let's go to national security correspondent David Ensor for more -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Anderson. No weapons yet found, but plenty of evidence, says David Kay, that Iraq's weapons programs were alive and kicking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KAY, WEAPONS INSPECTOR: We have found substantial evidence of an intent of senior level Iraqi figures, including Saddam, to continue production at some future point in time of weapons of mass destruction. We have not found yet -- and I'm sure you know this, otherwise you would know it earlier -- we have not found at this point actual weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: But Kay says his team has found a major effort to develop biological weapons, including live toxin organisms in test tubes hidden in a scientist's home. This is a photograph of that supplied by the CIA. They also found a network of hidden laboratories for biological and chemical weapons research and a prison laboratory complex they suspect may have been used to test such weapons on prisoners.
They have found extensive evidence that Iraq was plotting to get its hand on much longer-range missiles, missiles that could hit targets 1,000 kilometers away in places like Cairo and Ankara. And Kay said they have 600,000 tons of artillery shells, bombs, and other ordinance that have yet to be tested to see if they contain chemical weapons, which, he said, the Iraqis kept mixed, among other ordinance.
Still, no smoking gun, thus far, which some Democrats said shows President Bush should never have gone to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just don't make decisions like we do and put our nation's youth at risk based upon something that appears not to have existed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Anderson.
COOPER: All right. No smoking gun, but the search goes on. David Ensor, thanks very much tonight.
The hunt for Osama bin Laden, that tops tonight's "Terror Watch." The Pakistani military has launched what it calls the largest offensive yet in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Eighteen suspected al Qaeda members were captured, eight others killed.
CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The joint ground and air operation began just before daylight in the remote region of South Waziristan (ph) in northwest Pakistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind me, where you can see some smoke coming out upon the seat of credible information that there are some foreign elements in a hideout here.
QURAISHI: U.S. officials and intelligence sources say that it's possible that al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, may be hiding out in this rugged area. (on camera): There have been reports and speculation about the existence of al Qaeda and resurgent Taliban fighters coming back, retreating to this location in Pakistan, and then launching attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
(voice-over): Officials say they had been monitoring the movement of suspected militants crossing in and out of Afghanistan over the last day or two. The military says they had been taking refuge in mud structures at Angar Ubda (ph), very close to the Afghanistan border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The effort of our troops was not to fire. Immediately upon arrival here, they first asked those people to surrender voluntarily. Once those people did not surrender, they made an effort to apprehended them.
QURAISHI: Even as journalists were allowed close to the compounds, helicopter gunships could be seen overhead. Smoke rose in the distance, and sporadic gunfire could be heard.
Inside one compound, security forces displayed some of the suspected militants they said had been captured, along with AK-47 assault rifles, anti-tank mines, audiocassettes and other documents. As journalists were taken out of the area by military helicopter, one Pakistani soldier killed in the operation was loaded on board with us. Another soldier was killed, and two others wounded.
The Pakistani military has only recently begun to move into these previously inaccessible tribal areas. It is treacherous terrain, where sympathy for al Qaeda and the Taliban run strong, and where opposition to the central government has a long history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QURAISHI: Now, this comes at a time when the Pakistani government is under increased pressure by the United States, as well as the Afghan interim government, to do more to crack down on resurgent Taliban or al Qaeda fighters that may be regrouping on this side of the border, on the Pakistani side in areas like (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And as one official told us today, he said that this operation is proof that Pakistan is doing all it can on the war on terror -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Ash-Har Quraishi, from Islamabad, thanks very much.
For tonight's news note, the last time an independent source saw Osama bin Laden alive was on October 21, 2001. That's when the Arabic network Al-Jazeera interviewed the al Qaeda chief in Afghanistan. The network only released the tape in January of 2002.
Since then, four videotapes, seven audiotapes, and two statements reportedly from Osama bin Laden have been released. That's the news note.
Let's get a look right now at what's going on "Cross Country." Wayne County, Pennsylvania: hazing high. Prosecutors filed charges against three high school football players from Long Island. They are accused of hazing and sexually abusing younger teammates while the team was at a Pennsylvania camp.
Clovis, Texas: house of horrors. Police are investigating the molestation and rape of 18 preteen girls in this home. Neighbors have seen young girls going in and out of the house over the last couple years.
Chicago, Illinois: abuse payments. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese says it will make $12 million in settlement payments to 19 people who say they were molested by priests. The church also released the names of a dozen accused priests.
Detroit, Michigan: Dr. Death stays in prison. A judge denied a petition from Jack Kevorkian today. Kevorkian, A.K.A. Dr. Death, who has helped people committing suicide, is serving a 10 to 25-year sentence for second degree murder.
Washington: what's the frequency? The federal Communications Commission slapped a $357,000 fine on Viacom for a radio contest that aired on their stations last year. The "Opie (ph) and Anthony Show" challenged listeners to have sex in public places. One couple purportedly had a broadcast liaison in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The FCC was not amused and says federal indecency standards were violated.
And, Fitzgerald, Georgia: mega millions on leave. Steven Moore (ph), an Army sergeant home on leave from South Korea, picked up a big prize. Moore (ph) claimed the $150 million lottery jackpot while he was home. He'll take home $89 million before taxes.
That's a look at stories "Cross Country" tonight.
Off the court for now, Kobe Bryant's accuser is spared the spotlight. Will that help or hurt his sexual assault case? Lisa Bloom takes us to court.
Also, case not closed. A teenage boy convicted of murdering his parents 15 years ago. New evidence, does it point to a different killer?
And a little bit later on, espionage, tricks of the trade. Gizmos and gadgets come in from the cold as part of our weeklong series, "The Spying Game."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right. "Justice Served" now. Some rulings in the Kobe Bryant case.
Today, a judge ruled the media and public will have access to next week's preliminary hearing in Colorado. And the woman accusing the NBA star of sexual assault will not have to be at this hearing. Both rulings were seen today as setbacks for the defense. Also, the judge rejected a defense request for access to the medical records of the 19-year-old woman. The old medical records, we should say. And prosecutors say they'll be presenting evidence against Bryant at the October 9th hearing. What does it all mean?
Court TV's Lisa Bloom is here to explain it all. Lisa, good to see you again.
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: Hi, Anderson.
COOPER: I guess seeing it as a defeat for the defense, because they had wanted this alleged victim to be on the stand to see any inconsistencies in her tale.
BLOOM: That's right. This is a triple win for the prosecution. The defense lost on all of the issues that were before the court. But the most important one is whether the accuser has to show up or not.
Keep in mind, this is all about there prelim, not the trial. At the preliminary hearing, it's like a one-act play, where the prosecution writes it, directs it, produces. It's their show, and they say, we have enough evidence without her. We have the police detective...
COOPER: But the defense would have been able to ask questions of the alleged victim, as well.
BLOOM: They can ask questions of the witnesses that the prosecution puts on. But what we did learn today in this order very interesting is confirmation of some of the evidence that the prosecution will introduce. There are photos of physical injuries.
That has not been confirmed before. Now we know that from the judge's order. There's a videotape of the accuser's statement, and there's an audiotape of Kobe's statement. That all will be introduced at the prelim.
COOPER: And is that why the judge also said that perhaps in some cases the media will not be present for all of this?
BLOOM: That's right. The media will be let in, but in some cases, the judge says, I reserve the right to close the door. Some of this evidence I don't necessarily want out there.
COOPER: Now, the defense will not get access to the accuser's medical records prior to this incident.
BLOOM: Won't get the medical records as of now. After the prelim, the next judge...
COOPER: Oh, it could change.
BLOOM: That could change. Another judge will get the case for the purpose of trial. That judge can decide at that point whether those medical records will come in. But, Anderson, I also wanted to let you know I did a little digging in the court file and I found something out very interesting. The last time in Eagle County the issue of a rape victim having to testify at a prelim came up, her attorneys argued strenuously the Colorado law was very clear that rape victims do not have to testify at a prelim. The attorneys that argued that, the Hadden (ph) firm, the same firm that is representing Kobe Bryant now, took the opposite position on that issue in this case.
COOPER: You lawyers, I tell you.
BLOOM: Not all of us. Not all of us. Some people are consistent.
COOPER: But what does that say? The fact that they won't get the old medical records, at least right now, it doesn't seem like the victim or the alleged victim will be put on trial as much as perhaps she could have been.
BLOOM: Well, that's right. But, again, only at the prelim. At the trial, she will be there.
She has already said that in her court papers. She intends to comply with any subpoenas. She will certainly be there; she will be cross examined.
We're only talking about the preliminary hearing. And people should keep that in mind on October 9th, when they hear about those proceedings. It is very bias in favor of the prosecution.
COOPER: Because earlier in the week, the judge said that they could get the 911 tapes.
BLOOM: Yes, in discovery, that's right. And they could use that later on at trial.
COOPER: All right. Lisa Bloom, thanks very much.
BLOOM: Thanks.
COOPER: We'll be watching.
Well, more "Justice Served" now. Don't know if you remember this case, but 15 years ago, a Long Island couple was brutally killed in their home. After hours of questioning, their 17-year-old son confessed but then he recanted. The son, Martin Tencleff (ph), has been in prison since 1990, but now, as Maria Hinojosa reports, Tencleff (ph) hopes some new evidence could clear his name.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 13 years, Martin Tencleff (ph) has insisted he didn't murder his parents in 1988, didn't slash his mother's throat, didn't bludgeon his father in their home in a wealth Long Island suburb. He insisted his confession had been coerced by police. And for 13 years, his appeals, all the way up to the Supreme Court, have been rejected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defendant be sentenced to serve an indeterminate period of incarceration with a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of life.
HINOJOSA: Now Glen Harris, in jail for another crime, has signed a statement saying he drove the getaway car for the two people, he says, killed the Tankleffs.
BRUCE BARKET, ATTORNEY FOR TANKLEFF: This packet, in here, contains the evidence that establishes who killed Marty's parents, why Marty was wrongfully convicted and why he ought to be released immediately.
HINOJOSA: On Long Island, the district attorney has agreed to interview the new witness, but has not agreed to seek a new trial. Tankleff's lawyer, Bruce Barket, said there was no forensic evidence linking Martin, then 17, to the murder of his parents. Martin, now in his 30's, continues to maintain his innocence.
TANKLEFF: Plain and simple, I absolutely did not kill my parents.
HINOJOSA (on camera): Barket said evidence pointed to a possible conspiracy involving Tankleff's former business partner, who owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars and fled New York shortly after the murders, assuming a new identity. Prosecutors dismissed him as a possible suspect at the time and brought him back to testify against Martin Tankleff.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Still ahead, the Gitmo chaplain suspected of espionage. An exclusive interview just before his arrest.
"The Spying Game" -- tricks of the trade.
And Lisa Kudrow talks about "Friends" and porn.
We'll be right back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time for "The Reset," tonight's top stories.
Washington -- as the president kept to a schedule today, members of Congress, including a few Republicans, turned up the heat on the probe into the leak of a CIA operative's name. Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, a former federal prosecutor, said Attorney General John Ashcroft might consider recusing himself from the leak investigation because of his ties to presidential aide Karl Rove.
Also in Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the Pentagon will not take a closer look at Arab or Muslim members of the military because of the spy probe at Gitmo. Three Muslim workers, including an army chaplain, have been arrested at the facility where more than 600 al Qaeda and Taliban suspects are being held. More on that in just a moment.
The Centers for Disease Control say there's no proof the mandatory waiting periods and weapons ban reduce gun violence. The agency also says that the report isn't saying that gun laws don't work, but that more study is needed, although it doesn't plan any.
And the White House -- or excuse me -- the House voted to ban the so-called partial birth abortion procedures. The measure now goes to the Senate and could be on the president's desk within days. Abortion rights are promising to challenge the constitutionality of the measure, if it becomes law.
Federal prisoners and parolees won't have to give blood for the FBI's DNA database. An appeals court says the three-year-old law requiring blood samples is unconstitutional, calling it an illegal invasion of privacy.
And that's tonight's "Reset."
Now, the possible espionage at Gitmo. As we mentioned, Army Captain James Yee is one of three men being held on suspicion of spying and treason in connection with detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay. No charges yet brought against him. Still in custody though.
Tonight, we have an exclusive report from CNN's national correspondent Mike Boettcher, who has had access to Captain Yee's revealing last interview.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this, his last interview before his arrest, Captain Yee was clear about how he wanted to be addressed.
ASHWIN RAHMAN, JOURNALIST: So what name would you refer yourself to?
CAPTAIN JAMES YEE, ARMY CHAPLAIN: Chaplain Yousef.
BOETTCHER: The man who conducted the interview, veteran journalist Ashwin Rahman, a German of Indian descent, say he has his doubts that Yee is everything he's cracked up to be. Fluent Arabic speaker, knowledgeable student of Islam and possible spy.
Rahman says he had his doubts after the first handshake.
RAHMAN: The traditional way of greeting anybody (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which means good morning, good afternoon, hello and it's instinctively (SPEAKING IN ARABIC) but this man replied with (SPEAKING IN ARABIC). So this was a bit strange.
BOETTCHER: In the interview, Yee, who allegedly spent four years in Syria studying Arabic and Islam, admitted he spoke only broken Arabic.
RAHMAN: So you don't speak Arabic or Urdu or...
YEE: I know a little bit of Arabic, but that's necessary if you want to recite the Koran.
BOETTCHER: Yee said he had access to all the detainees, but left it unclear how he actually communicated with them.
RAHAMN: Some of them would be talking Arabic. So -- they -- you won't need interpreters, would you?
YEE: Yes, there are -- there is a whole section of interpreters here to facilitate communication between detainees and any U.S. military personnel.
BOETTCHER: Most puzzling was Rahman was Yee's refusal or inability to say what branch of Islam he followed.
RAHMAN: Are you a Shia or a Suni?
YEE: I'm a Muslim chaplain serving in the United States military.
RAHMAN: I kept on asking him if he was a Shia or a Sunni, because you can't be a Muslim and be nothing of -- neither of the two. If a Sunni learns that he's a Shia, he won't talk to him. And vice versa.
BOETTCHER: Rahman, who has worked extensively in the Islamic world, says he was left with a sense that Yee was more a Muslim romantic than a fundamentalist spy.
RAHAMN: I had a feeling that he is one of these kind of person who has -- who has got into this Islamic romantic.
BOETTCHER: The day after this interview, Yee flew off to Jacksonville, where he would later be arrested.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, Frankfurt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Interesting last interview.
We turn now to our continuing series "The Spying Game," our look this week at espionage, including the way spies take out their targets.
Patty Davis has gone through the Spy Museum, checking out some of the exotic tools of the trade.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's Hollywood and James Bond, and then there are the real tricks of the spy trade at the International Spy Museum in Washington.
Lethal gadgets -- this KGB lipstick pistol used during the Cold War.
Bulgarian intelligence used this to silence a dissident.
DAVID MAJOR, INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM: They used this umbrella to embed this small little pellet into his leg that had ricin in there and they killed him. And it was mysterious....
DAVIS: Leave it to good-old American intelligence to come up with this one.
MAJOR: This actually is a transmitter for aircraft to come in for an air airstrike. But you have to put something down there to make sure that nobody picks up. What do you do? They created doggy do.
DAVIS: The KGB used this hidden buttonhole camera in the '50s and later this shoemike to bug diplomats. These gadgets, great, unless you got caught.
(on camera): Then, there's this option the CIA gave its agents in the 1970s, poisonous eye glasses. Chew on the tip and you won't talk, you're dead.
Patty Davis, CNN, at the International Spy Museum in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, you might think some of these gadgets disappeared after the Cold War, but just last month there was some evidence that secret agents and undercover assassins are still out there. British intelligence is reportedly looking into reports that a Russian assassin was going to try and kill this man, billionaire Russian Boris Beruzovsky (ph), by stabbing him with a poison pen. If it sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, don't be fooled.
For a closer look, at some of the tricks of the trade in "The Spying Game," joining us now the co-authors of "SpyDust," Antonio Mendez, former chief of disguise for the CIA, and Jonna Mendez, formerly of the CIA's Office of Technical Services.
Good to see you both again.
Tony, you know, you hear about these assassination devices and, you know, they totally sound like something out of a movie. You have this lipstick gun to show us.
How is this used?
ANTONIO MENDEZ, CO-AUTHOR "SPY DUST": Yes, actually this is concealed weapon known as the kiss of death. It looks like a lipstick, ordinary lipstick, but, in fact, it is a single shot, 4.5 millimeter pistol and it was used as either an assassination device at close range or as an escape and evasion tool, you take out a sentry with it.
COOPER: As both of you know, and John I'd like to talk to you about this, not all the devices are so high-tech. Robert Hanssen, a man who has been convicted of spying for some 15 years or so, he was using black garbage bags.
JONNA MENDEZ, CO-AUTHOR "SPY DUST": Yes, Bob Hanssen, I think, knew better trade craft than what he practiced when it came to his own operation. He reused his signal sites, he reused his drop sites and instead of a more sophisticated concealment device, he used black plastic trash bags.
COOPER: And so some of his fingerprints were found.
J. MENDEZ: That's how he was finally identified and arrested. He left his fingerprints on those trash bags. Amazing leak, sloppy.
COOPER: Tony, Alger James, what kind of trade craft did he use?
T. MENDEZ: Again, he was using a single mailbox to put his signals up with a piece of chalk and it was poorly located. In both of those cases, nobody really watching that closely, so they got away with really pretty sloppy trade craft in Washington.
COOPER: And Tony, you were involved with a Russian agent who asked for a special kind of pen. Briefly, tell us about it.
T. MENDEZ: Yes. You can conceal all sorts of things in pens. In this case, the agent wanted to be able to take his own life if he were captured. So, we hid, what's called an L pill, in his favorite fountain pen and he then ended up using it when he was apprehended. He was dead when he hit the floor.
COOPER: Unbelievable. Just a fascinating look. And again we appreciate both of you joining us. Tony and Mendez, thank you very much.
T. MENDEZ: Thank you.
COOPER: All right. Our series continues tomorrow. Hope you join us for that.
Rush Limbaugh caught in a prescription drug investigation. Find out more about the painkiller that's as addictive as heroin, say some. Why are millions of Americans getting hooked? We're going to ask Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Also Jerry Garcia has a new drug. Find out his magic in a bottle.
And from "Friends" to "Wonderland," Lisa Kudrow joins us to talk TV and porn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: More now on the story of Rush Limbaugh. Allegations of prescription drug abuse and a question that some of you may be ask yourselves. What exactly is Oxycontin? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now in Atlanta with some answers. Sanjay, thanks for being with us. What are these drugs? When are they prescribed? And who is taking them?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are heavy duty painkillers. They are pretty well known. They are actually part of a class of drugs called opioids. A lot of these drugs are basically used to treat pain. They're sort of a morphine- like drugs. Most people know morphine is, these are similar to that. They do have a high addiction potential, which is why they've gotten so much attention. And they do have some side effects as well, drowsiness, dizziness, sedation.
I'll tell you a couple of things about these drugs. They're excellent drugs to be taken in the short term for the control of pain. They are drugs that can be potentially addictive though, which is something that people have been focusing their attention on quite a bit lately. They can be very effective for treating pain, as long as it's taken just short term. The addiction part is something people have been wrestling with for some time. Like most painkillers, OxyContin, along with several others, do have this addiction potential -- Anderson.
COOPER: In terms of people who are using it for addiction, obviously, they don't have prescriptions or maybe they started off with prescriptions but they have become addicted. And they're crushing up the pills. I guess, they're snorting them or swallowing them in some cases. Why is that? Does it give you a high more than just relieving pain?
GUPTA: A couple of really important reasons. One is what you just mentioned. The euphoric-type high that you get with these medications is pretty significant. People do feel a little bit of a buzz with these medications. Also, there's something known as withdrawal. Most people think of that with regards to alcohol. It can happen with these narcotics as well.
What happens is, you get so used to taking these medications and get used to that euphoric high, if you stop it, all of a sudden you start to not feel so good.
And also, there is something known as rebound pain. Let's say someone takes the medication for pain and they start taking it long term instead of short term. When you stop it, sometimes that pain can come back with a vengeance. Which sort of leaves the person to continue taking the pills over and over again.
Certainly some high-profile cases. The medication that you hear of so much, Vicodin, OxyContin, the crushing up thing is called a hillbilly heroin actually, in some parts of the country, because people actually crush up the OxyContin and snort it. That is something the drug industry, as well as the drug enforcement agencies have been trying to curb.
COOPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much for the update.
GUPTA: Good seeing you.
COOPER: Every show, every time in this time around the program, we like to dip our toe in the pop culture current. Here's what is going on tonight. A judge has ruled that a Dearborn High School student has the right to wear a t-shirt calling President Bush an international terrorist. Not sure if the ruling clears the way for the John Ashcroft thong, but hey, it might, you never know.
MTV is shooting a new documentaries a series inside a jail. The series is expected to discourage young people from crime, but it may also give MTV better access to some of today's biggest music stars.
A California winery is launching a line of Jerry Garcia wines including a chardonnay, merlot and zinfandel. One rejected slogan, "it couldn't taste better if the grapes were crushed with Jerry's own feet." All right, we made that slogan up, but wouldn't it might have been a good one?
And if this doesn't make you feel old, another group is reuniting for another road trip. Duran Duran will hit 16 U.S. cities. Gen Xers around the countries are moaning. The band decided to tour again, get this, after 18 years away from the stage. They've been away for over 18 years? After deciding not to tour under the name Duran and Garfunkel. Good for them.
Coming up next on 360, if you've ever wanted to see Lisa Kudrow in a porn wonderland, well, hey we have news for you and we'll even ask her how she got there.
Also, has television news focused too much on one aspect of the California election at the expense of others? Overkill: it's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA KUDROW, ACTOR: I don't want a fresh start with you, John. Wake up. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen.
KUDROW: No, you listen. I am through supporting you. What did you think I would just leave and never see my family again. You have gone too far this time pal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang on, if you don't help me with this, I'm dead.
KUDROW: You're already dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It's not the friend you're used to. That's Lisa Kudrow in her latest role as Sharon Holmes (ph) wife of the late porn star John Holmes (ph) in the movie "Wonderland" which opens tomorrow in New York and L.A. It is a bit of a departure for the comic actress, who entrenched the phrase "smelly cat" into the lexicon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, don't. Stop cleansing my (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COOPER: Like the rest of her friends, Lisa Kudrow was a virtual unknown when she landed the role Phoebe a decade ago. Now she's finishing up "Friends" as one of the best paid, most powerful actresses on TV today playing the dits with 1,000 rhymes.
KUDROW: So I thought, you know, if I worked with stocks, I'd have to live in a box and only eat locks and have a pet fox.
COOPER: The lovable new aged flake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, which of you is the father?
KUDROW: None of them is the father. The father is my brother.
COOPER: The type cast never fit the woman or the actress. She has already proven versatile in film as Bill Crystals high strung main squeeze in "Analyze This" and "That."
KUDROW: Of course I'm upset. My wedding is ruined. And you've got problems.
COOPER: As the Michelle half of "Romy and Michelle."
KUDROW: I am so cuter. It's like common knowledge Romy everyone things so.
COOPER: As the harden cynic in "The Opposite of Sex."
KUDROW: You're gay, you, jerk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm bisexual.
KUDROW: Please, I went to a Bar Mitzvah once, that doesn't make me Jewish.
COOPER: And know maybe her biggest departure yet.
KUDROW: It's a payoff. You should understand that term. I'm paying you off to stay out of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Anyone who looks at Kudrow and sees only Phoebe, "Wonderland" might stop that. Portraying a porn star wife is about as different from "Must See TV" as you can possible get. Earlier, I talked to Lisa Kudrow about playing that porn star's wife and saying good-bye to "Friends."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Were you familiar John Holmes (UNINTELLIGIBLE) if you will.
KUDROW: A little bit. I'd never really seen one and I still didn't really, even when I made this because I didn't think I needed to, Sharon didn't.
COOPER: Because there woman you're playing, the wife of John Holmes didn't know at the time he porn star.
KUDROW: She found out two years into his career that that's what he was doing.
COOPER: How did she find out?
KUDROW: She told me she was driving home from work. She was a nurse at a hospital driving home. And saw (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the street and there was his name in an X-rated movie.
COOPER: Unbelievable.
KUDROW: That's how she found out.
COOPER: She works as a consultant on the film.
KUDROW: Yes.
COOPER: What was that like actually meeting the person you're playing?
KUDROW: That was great. It was really helpful because she told me a lot more and gave me a lot more background than what was in the story of the movie.
COOPER: Did you like any of the characters in the movie?
Because it is a seedy bunch, not just that they were doing porn flicks -- a lot of heavy drug use.
KUDROW: They were all really tragic and mostly, one thing I liked about this story and the script was that John Holmes was mostly just pathetic because he was so desperate, so deep into his drug addiction at that time.
COOPER: At the time this film is based on, he was no longer -- really no longer had a porn career.
KUDROW: He couldn't perform any more because he was...
COOPER: I got it.
KUDROW: He was deep into his addiction there.
COOPER: Really?
KUDROW: Yes. He literally couldn't perform any more.
COOPER: Wow.
Is films your future or are you going to stick with TV or try to do both?
KUDROW: Well, I'll see what I'm allowed to do.
COOPER: What do you mean allowed to do.
Can't you do just about anything?
KUDROW: No.
COOPER: No? You're like this huge superstar.
Come on you are.
KUDROW: Big hard laugh.
COOPER: No, but can't you do anything you want?
KUDROW: No. One really can't just say, you know what I'm going to do another very successful TV show. You can't do that. A lot of people tried. I think only Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore.
COOPER: You say can't because audiences won't buy it or -- I mean, probably Hollywood executives that would allow you to do it, it's just a question of you'd don't think it would be successful.
KUDROW: I don't think it would be successful. I think, you know, the TV public is used to seeing me be Phoebe. If I show up as something different on TV, it's too -- they wouldn't...
COOPER: And is that all right with you?
I mean, I guess it's not a bad gig only doing movies.
KUDROW: No, whatever I'm allowed to do, I'll do.
COOPER: Lisa Kudrow, thank you for being with us.
KUDROW: Thank you.
COOPER: All right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: All right, time for "Overkill."
There are a number of candidates for this "Overkill" segment, but with the California election just five days away, we had to go with it. It's not just the sheer quantity of coverage that qualifies it for "Overkill," it's also the type of coverage. See if you can spot a common thread. Take a look at these see if you can see a common thread in some recent coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New poll numbers in California look bad for Governor Gray Davis and good for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt tonight, if you believe the latest polls that he is the leading candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arnold Schwarzenegger surges ahead, again, up from that poll in mid-September.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Not much on the issues actually facing California, the staggering deficit, immigration issues, education. Plenty on polls, though, even from newscasters who should know better. One poll shows him sprinting ahead in the final stretch, which means Governor Gray Davis is running hard and fast to try to catch up.
Will that guy never learn?
That's are "Overkill" (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for tonight.
Coming up next on 360, is there anyone who can investigate the administration CIA leak without a conflict of interest?
We may have just the man.
And tomorrow, our "Spying Game Series" concludes with a look at how spies are made. How the espionage agencies find the spies of tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight, "The Nth Degrees" of separation. They're howling for an independent council to investigate the administration leak of a CIA operative's name. Republicans are howling, that Democrats are howling because of politics. So, let's take a look at the facts. Right now Attorney General John Ashcroft is ultimately responsible for the investigation, but Ashcroft was appointed by Mr. Bush, of course. And, Ashcroft has previously gotten elect with the help of Karl Rove, the presidential adviser around whom suspicion is now swirling. Plus the man directly in charge of the investigation is John Dion (ph).
They're not releasing his photo, so we have to use a photo of Deon (ph) instead. Dions bosses, bosses, boss is Assistant Attorney General Robert McCallum. He was at Yale with his friend George Bush. But Republicans point out Joe Wilson is a supporter of presidential candidate John Kerry. And one report said the leak about Wilson's wife was also pitched to NBC's Andrea Mitchell who is married to Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan who controls interest rates that effect millions upon millions of American's many of whom may vote next. Ultimately there is only one man to investigate, that's right actor Kevin Bacon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Campaign? Rush Limbaugh Drug Probe>
Aired October 2, 2003 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST (voice-over): The CIA spy leak scandal: can there be a truly independent investigation?
Arnold apologizes. Is it enough?
The hunt for Osama: U.S. forces zero in.
Rush Limbaugh linked to an illegal drug ring. What happens now?
"The Spying Game": tonight, revealing the tricks of the trade.
And, Lisa Kudrow, the wife of a porn star?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360.
COOPER: Hey there. Thanks for joining us on 360.
A stunning controversy erupts for Rush Limbaugh, a second one this week, far bigger than the first. Allegations that he has been buying and using prescription drugs illegally. We're going to get to that, but we begin with a story of the CIA leak which, increasingly, has the look of an all-you-can eat political feeding frenzy.
It may be easily obscured, but at the heart of the uproar there is a deadly serious question: was a CIA operative outed as part of a White House smear campaign? And how can the administration fairly investigate itself? That's the question.
White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president maintained his official schedule, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month while the partisan bickering over the CIA leak investigation continued.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig.
MALVEAUX: Democrats insist Attorney General John Ashcroft should appoint a special counsel to conduct the investigation, or at least, because of his close ties to the White House, recuse himself from the process.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The attorney general is so inextricably locked up with the people he's investigating, he can't do a fair job.
MALVEAUX: But the White House press secretary, while not naming names, implied it was Democrats and Ambassador Joe Wilson, whose wife was the subject of the leak, who were playing politics.
SCOTT MCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Unfortunately, there are some that are looking through the lens of political opportunism. There are some that are seeking partisan political advantage.
MALVEAUX: But the majority of Americans, according to a "Washington Post"-ABC News poll, believe there should be an independent investigation, with 29 percent who think Justice should handle the investigation, 69 percent who think a special counsel should. Republicans continue to rally around the White House.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: The only reason that you would appoint a special counsel is if the White House was trying to cover up something or trying to obstruct justice. Nowhere -- that is not the case here, and the Justice Department can handle it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, Suzanne, the White House pressed hard for Republicans to present a united front, yet some of them seem to be breaking ranks. What is going on?
MALVEAUX: Well, Anderson, for the most part, Republicans are in lockstep, but there are a few who are taking a harder look at this. Senators Olympia Snowe, as well as Arlen Spector, while they are not calling for Ashcroft to recuse himself, they say of course, it is up to Ashcroft to make that decision. They are saying it is something that he should consider.
COOPER: All right. Interesting development. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks very much from the White House.
A big legal blow for the government today. The federal judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui case tosses out the death penalty and the most serious charges against the only September 11th suspect in custody. CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The judge's ruling takes away any possibility of the death sentence and bars prosecutors from introducing evidence relating to 9/11. No pictures, no video, no victims.
The penalties were imposed by Judge Leonie Brinkema after prosecutors refused to turn over three high-ranking al Qaeda operatives now in U.S. custody. Prosecutors said it was a matter of national security because what the prisoners say is classified. But Moussaoui argued the alleged 9/11 planners would clear him by backing his claim that he was not part of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, but that he was instead part of a different plot to take place at a different time.
In her opinion, the judge called Moussaoui a minor participant in al Qaeda, saying it simply cannot be the case that Moussaoui can lawfully be sentenced to death for the actions of other members of al Qaeda. Moussaoui, who was taking pilot lessons, was arrested on immigration charges weeks before September 11th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way we read the court's opinion is that it tried to balance the government's national security concerns against Moussaoui's fair trial rights.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors say they're studying the court's opinion, deciding what to do next. The U.S. attorney in charge of the case responded to the judge's ruling, saying "national security will not permit the government to allow Moussaoui, an avowed terrorist, to have direct access to his terrorist confederates."
One option now, transfer the case to a milltrary tribunal. The reason, says former prosecutor Allen Binegrad (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are still serious powerful charges that remain, but I'd say the strongest part of it has now been precluded by the judge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And just a short time ago, we learned that prosecutors will plan on appealing the judge's ruling. They believe that they have a very strong case against Moussaoui, especially in relation to the 9/11 charges. And they feel that if he is convicted he should face the ultimate penalty, which is the death sentence -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Deborah Feyerick, thanks very much.
On now to the trouble for Rush Limbaugh. And if you thought he had trouble yesterday, after his comments about a black quarterback, well that seems like peanuts compared to today. Just after resigning from ESPN for comments deemed insensitive by some, there are new bombshell allegations that his name has turned up as an alleged illegal buyer of prescription painkillers.
Susan Candiotti reports from Miami.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Law enforcement sources tell CNN Rush Limbaugh has serviced (ph) in an ongoing probe into the black market sale of prescription painkillers, including Oxycontin and Hydrocodone in Florida. The drugs can only be legally obtain with a doctor's order. For example, Oxycontin. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's four or five times stronger than heroin. Yes. Like I said, and that's one of its selling points. People know what they're getting.
CANDIOTTI: Authorities say they became aware of Limbaugh when his former housekeeper, Wilma Kline (ph), who lives in this south Florida home, came to them with secretly recorded tape conversations she had with Limbaugh about drug buys. A law enforcement source says investigators are convinced the voice on the tapes belongs to the conservative talk show host.
Our law enforcement source says Limbaugh's former housekeeper claims she met with him at this gas station and other public places to make some of the drug deals over a four-year period. And he initially approached her about sharing pills from her husband's pain pill prescription. The woman claims one of Limbaugh's lawyers paid her about $200,000 for pills.
Limbaugh has issued this statement: "I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me. No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: A law enforcement source says it is unclear whether Limbaugh's alleged drug buys are directly connected to an ongoing investigation into the sale of prescription drugs. That investigation going on in Palm Beach County, Florida. That investigation is targeting suppliers and sellers, and our source tells us that Limbaugh is not a target of that investigation.
It's not known whether he will be charged, and it is unclear whether the woman who allegedly sold him the drugs will be charged or receive immunity in return for her information. The Palm Beach County state attorneys office would not confirm or deny the Limbaugh investigation -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks for the update.
A quick news note for you now. It is estimated that nine million people abuse prescription drugs in this country. And in 2001, nearly a million people abused the power powerful pain killer Oxycontin. We're going to have more on Oxycontin shortly, what it is and why it's become a black market favorite with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
But first, we go on to California, and the big question voters woke up to this morning: does Arnold Schwarzenegger deserve be called the gropinator (ph)? Long-time allegations got a whole new life today in the "Los Angeles Times." A half-dozen women who say Schwarzenegger is a serial harasser. Schwarzenegger answered the charges today with both hands visible at all times.
He said, yes, he had behaved badly and he was sorry. The question now, what, if anything, will it mean next Tuesday? More on the allegations from CNN's Charles Feldman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arnold Schwarzenegger's attitude toward women has been a hot topic of discussion for weeks. But the publication of a seven-week investigation by the "Los Angeles Times" has sent shockwaves through the Schwarzenegger campaign.
According to the "Times" account, six women claimed that the actor-turned-politician groped or sexually humiliated them in various locations, sometimes in front of other people. Some of the alleged incidents, according to the "Times," happened as early as the 1970s, while one allegedly took place as late as 2000.
"Did he rape me?" "No," the "Times" quotes one woman saying. "Did he humiliate me? You bet he did."
Four of the six women refused to have their names published. Some of them apparently work in Hollywood and fear reprisals from the powerful movie star. A spokesman for the Schwarzenegger campaign told the "Times," "Schwarzenegger has not engaged in improper conduct towards women," and goes on to suggest that the current allegations are part of a political smear campaign.
The "Los Angeles Times" says it did not learn about any of the women from Schwarzenegger rivals. It says it sought the women out, they did not come to the paper.
Charles Feldman, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, reaction to the story ran the gamut today. One conservative activist said this: "He may have brought down the whole recall." But one woman said this: "You know how people in the public eye flirt." All in all, quite a day to launch the Schwarzenegger bus tour: the California Comeback Express, that's what they're calling it.
Senior political correspondent Candy Crowley was on board and joins us now with more on the apology and the reaction to it -- Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wow. Well, you're right, it has been a day. This is not the kind of news you want on the kick up of what is your final round before the vote.
As you said, Arnold Schwarzenegger was on a roll. This has really stopped them, at least for today, because there was nothing else talked about. We did get a chance to talk to Mr. Schwarzenegger just a few minutes ago, asked him to explain his earlier remarks and whether what he was saying is that the story in the "La Times" is true or is it false.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Some of these incidents, one was in 2000, they have been sort of over the decades. Some of them are quite graphic, as you know. I mean, touching body parts. Are you saying that's a Hollywood thing?
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I don't remember so many of the things that I was accused of having done. OK? So, because of that, I just want to say that, if I've done anything wrong, where I thought that I'm playful and just have fun, maybe I have offended someone.
So, again, I feel bad about that. But the reality is that it's very interesting that all of a sudden now, since I'm ahead in the campaign, and since we are now literally five days away from election, all of a sudden all of those things are coming out, and all of those things to the negative.
In fact, you know, I'm very pro-women and I'm very much into equality. And those sides are not coming out, which is very interesting. And that I always support women. And when I become governor, I will be a champion for women. I will be fighting for women's rights and all those things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: In the end, it hardly matters whether Schwarzenegger's answers satisfy us or not. This obviously is one of those things that is up to the voters. He thinks, and his campaign believes, that voters should see that he has been up front with this issue, something he says Gray Davis is not about matters involving California -- Anderson.
COOPER: Candy Crowley, thanks very much. It will be interesting to see if tomorrow they can get back on the message that they want to be getting out. Candy, thanks.
Let's check what's happening overseas now in tonight's "Up Link."
Pyongyang, North Korea: going nuclear. The communist nation says it finished reprocessing 8,000 fuel rods from a nuclear reactor, a move experts say could lead to production of five or six nuclear weapons. But the U.S. says there is no evidence confirming any of this.
Monrovia, Liberia: deadly firefight. Rebel and government forces clashed just as the last American forces withdrew from the city and a new U.N. peace mission took command. At least four people died.
Bali, Indonesia: bullets for a bomber. The last of four main suspects in the Bali nightclub blast, he has been sentenced to death by firing squad. Obviously showing you the wrong video there -- 202 people died in last year's bombing.
Now we go to Vatican City, Italy: mixed messages. The pope's private secretary plays down recent remarks about the 83-year-old pontiff's failing health and says the comments were taken out of context. Meanwhile, one of Europe's top cardinals, the Vienna archbishop, says the pontiff is "nearing the last days and months of his life."
We go to Havana, Cuba now. A rare and noisy protest over forced evictions. All over the island people are being evicted from homes without getting any compensation. There's a nationwide crackdown on dwellings acquired illegally or built without permits.
And, Lima, Peru: a very, very, well, let's say unique beauty pageant. Take a look. Fifteen convicted criminals at Santa Monica Prison competed for the Miss Spring 2003 crown. From among all the international contestants, a Peruvian won the crown.
This winner, of course, will not get any trips abroad, as they are incarcerated. Instead, she'll get body massages and facial treatments inside the prison. You cannot make this stuff up.
That is tonight's "Up Link."
No evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Bombshell revelations from a top weapons inspector. We'll take you inside the latest intelligence.
Plus, the hunt for bin Laden. Do new raids offer new hope of netting the world's most wanted man?
And a 360 exclusive. A Gitmo chaplain's last interview before he was taken into custody. Does it cast reasonable doubt on suspicions of espionage? Hear the tape for yourself.
But first, let's take a look "Inside the Box" and tonight's top stories on the network evening newscasts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right. We go now to the long-awaited visit to Congress by the man heading the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. His name is David Kay.
Now, one CNN viewer asked on the air today, "Will they be found in my lifetime," talking about the WMD. Well, certainly, it's possible, but it sure hasn't happened yet.
Kay says he needs more time and apparently a whole lot more money. Let's go to national security correspondent David Ensor for more -- David.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Anderson. No weapons yet found, but plenty of evidence, says David Kay, that Iraq's weapons programs were alive and kicking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KAY, WEAPONS INSPECTOR: We have found substantial evidence of an intent of senior level Iraqi figures, including Saddam, to continue production at some future point in time of weapons of mass destruction. We have not found yet -- and I'm sure you know this, otherwise you would know it earlier -- we have not found at this point actual weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: But Kay says his team has found a major effort to develop biological weapons, including live toxin organisms in test tubes hidden in a scientist's home. This is a photograph of that supplied by the CIA. They also found a network of hidden laboratories for biological and chemical weapons research and a prison laboratory complex they suspect may have been used to test such weapons on prisoners.
They have found extensive evidence that Iraq was plotting to get its hand on much longer-range missiles, missiles that could hit targets 1,000 kilometers away in places like Cairo and Ankara. And Kay said they have 600,000 tons of artillery shells, bombs, and other ordinance that have yet to be tested to see if they contain chemical weapons, which, he said, the Iraqis kept mixed, among other ordinance.
Still, no smoking gun, thus far, which some Democrats said shows President Bush should never have gone to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just don't make decisions like we do and put our nation's youth at risk based upon something that appears not to have existed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: Anderson.
COOPER: All right. No smoking gun, but the search goes on. David Ensor, thanks very much tonight.
The hunt for Osama bin Laden, that tops tonight's "Terror Watch." The Pakistani military has launched what it calls the largest offensive yet in lawless tribal areas near the Afghan border against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Eighteen suspected al Qaeda members were captured, eight others killed.
CNN's Ash-Har Quraishi has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASH-HAR QURAISHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The joint ground and air operation began just before daylight in the remote region of South Waziristan (ph) in northwest Pakistan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see (UNINTELLIGIBLE) behind me, where you can see some smoke coming out upon the seat of credible information that there are some foreign elements in a hideout here.
QURAISHI: U.S. officials and intelligence sources say that it's possible that al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, may be hiding out in this rugged area. (on camera): There have been reports and speculation about the existence of al Qaeda and resurgent Taliban fighters coming back, retreating to this location in Pakistan, and then launching attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan.
(voice-over): Officials say they had been monitoring the movement of suspected militants crossing in and out of Afghanistan over the last day or two. The military says they had been taking refuge in mud structures at Angar Ubda (ph), very close to the Afghanistan border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The effort of our troops was not to fire. Immediately upon arrival here, they first asked those people to surrender voluntarily. Once those people did not surrender, they made an effort to apprehended them.
QURAISHI: Even as journalists were allowed close to the compounds, helicopter gunships could be seen overhead. Smoke rose in the distance, and sporadic gunfire could be heard.
Inside one compound, security forces displayed some of the suspected militants they said had been captured, along with AK-47 assault rifles, anti-tank mines, audiocassettes and other documents. As journalists were taken out of the area by military helicopter, one Pakistani soldier killed in the operation was loaded on board with us. Another soldier was killed, and two others wounded.
The Pakistani military has only recently begun to move into these previously inaccessible tribal areas. It is treacherous terrain, where sympathy for al Qaeda and the Taliban run strong, and where opposition to the central government has a long history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QURAISHI: Now, this comes at a time when the Pakistani government is under increased pressure by the United States, as well as the Afghan interim government, to do more to crack down on resurgent Taliban or al Qaeda fighters that may be regrouping on this side of the border, on the Pakistani side in areas like (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And as one official told us today, he said that this operation is proof that Pakistan is doing all it can on the war on terror -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Ash-Har Quraishi, from Islamabad, thanks very much.
For tonight's news note, the last time an independent source saw Osama bin Laden alive was on October 21, 2001. That's when the Arabic network Al-Jazeera interviewed the al Qaeda chief in Afghanistan. The network only released the tape in January of 2002.
Since then, four videotapes, seven audiotapes, and two statements reportedly from Osama bin Laden have been released. That's the news note.
Let's get a look right now at what's going on "Cross Country." Wayne County, Pennsylvania: hazing high. Prosecutors filed charges against three high school football players from Long Island. They are accused of hazing and sexually abusing younger teammates while the team was at a Pennsylvania camp.
Clovis, Texas: house of horrors. Police are investigating the molestation and rape of 18 preteen girls in this home. Neighbors have seen young girls going in and out of the house over the last couple years.
Chicago, Illinois: abuse payments. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese says it will make $12 million in settlement payments to 19 people who say they were molested by priests. The church also released the names of a dozen accused priests.
Detroit, Michigan: Dr. Death stays in prison. A judge denied a petition from Jack Kevorkian today. Kevorkian, A.K.A. Dr. Death, who has helped people committing suicide, is serving a 10 to 25-year sentence for second degree murder.
Washington: what's the frequency? The federal Communications Commission slapped a $357,000 fine on Viacom for a radio contest that aired on their stations last year. The "Opie (ph) and Anthony Show" challenged listeners to have sex in public places. One couple purportedly had a broadcast liaison in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. The FCC was not amused and says federal indecency standards were violated.
And, Fitzgerald, Georgia: mega millions on leave. Steven Moore (ph), an Army sergeant home on leave from South Korea, picked up a big prize. Moore (ph) claimed the $150 million lottery jackpot while he was home. He'll take home $89 million before taxes.
That's a look at stories "Cross Country" tonight.
Off the court for now, Kobe Bryant's accuser is spared the spotlight. Will that help or hurt his sexual assault case? Lisa Bloom takes us to court.
Also, case not closed. A teenage boy convicted of murdering his parents 15 years ago. New evidence, does it point to a different killer?
And a little bit later on, espionage, tricks of the trade. Gizmos and gadgets come in from the cold as part of our weeklong series, "The Spying Game."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: All right. "Justice Served" now. Some rulings in the Kobe Bryant case.
Today, a judge ruled the media and public will have access to next week's preliminary hearing in Colorado. And the woman accusing the NBA star of sexual assault will not have to be at this hearing. Both rulings were seen today as setbacks for the defense. Also, the judge rejected a defense request for access to the medical records of the 19-year-old woman. The old medical records, we should say. And prosecutors say they'll be presenting evidence against Bryant at the October 9th hearing. What does it all mean?
Court TV's Lisa Bloom is here to explain it all. Lisa, good to see you again.
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: Hi, Anderson.
COOPER: I guess seeing it as a defeat for the defense, because they had wanted this alleged victim to be on the stand to see any inconsistencies in her tale.
BLOOM: That's right. This is a triple win for the prosecution. The defense lost on all of the issues that were before the court. But the most important one is whether the accuser has to show up or not.
Keep in mind, this is all about there prelim, not the trial. At the preliminary hearing, it's like a one-act play, where the prosecution writes it, directs it, produces. It's their show, and they say, we have enough evidence without her. We have the police detective...
COOPER: But the defense would have been able to ask questions of the alleged victim, as well.
BLOOM: They can ask questions of the witnesses that the prosecution puts on. But what we did learn today in this order very interesting is confirmation of some of the evidence that the prosecution will introduce. There are photos of physical injuries.
That has not been confirmed before. Now we know that from the judge's order. There's a videotape of the accuser's statement, and there's an audiotape of Kobe's statement. That all will be introduced at the prelim.
COOPER: And is that why the judge also said that perhaps in some cases the media will not be present for all of this?
BLOOM: That's right. The media will be let in, but in some cases, the judge says, I reserve the right to close the door. Some of this evidence I don't necessarily want out there.
COOPER: Now, the defense will not get access to the accuser's medical records prior to this incident.
BLOOM: Won't get the medical records as of now. After the prelim, the next judge...
COOPER: Oh, it could change.
BLOOM: That could change. Another judge will get the case for the purpose of trial. That judge can decide at that point whether those medical records will come in. But, Anderson, I also wanted to let you know I did a little digging in the court file and I found something out very interesting. The last time in Eagle County the issue of a rape victim having to testify at a prelim came up, her attorneys argued strenuously the Colorado law was very clear that rape victims do not have to testify at a prelim. The attorneys that argued that, the Hadden (ph) firm, the same firm that is representing Kobe Bryant now, took the opposite position on that issue in this case.
COOPER: You lawyers, I tell you.
BLOOM: Not all of us. Not all of us. Some people are consistent.
COOPER: But what does that say? The fact that they won't get the old medical records, at least right now, it doesn't seem like the victim or the alleged victim will be put on trial as much as perhaps she could have been.
BLOOM: Well, that's right. But, again, only at the prelim. At the trial, she will be there.
She has already said that in her court papers. She intends to comply with any subpoenas. She will certainly be there; she will be cross examined.
We're only talking about the preliminary hearing. And people should keep that in mind on October 9th, when they hear about those proceedings. It is very bias in favor of the prosecution.
COOPER: Because earlier in the week, the judge said that they could get the 911 tapes.
BLOOM: Yes, in discovery, that's right. And they could use that later on at trial.
COOPER: All right. Lisa Bloom, thanks very much.
BLOOM: Thanks.
COOPER: We'll be watching.
Well, more "Justice Served" now. Don't know if you remember this case, but 15 years ago, a Long Island couple was brutally killed in their home. After hours of questioning, their 17-year-old son confessed but then he recanted. The son, Martin Tencleff (ph), has been in prison since 1990, but now, as Maria Hinojosa reports, Tencleff (ph) hopes some new evidence could clear his name.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 13 years, Martin Tencleff (ph) has insisted he didn't murder his parents in 1988, didn't slash his mother's throat, didn't bludgeon his father in their home in a wealth Long Island suburb. He insisted his confession had been coerced by police. And for 13 years, his appeals, all the way up to the Supreme Court, have been rejected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defendant be sentenced to serve an indeterminate period of incarceration with a minimum of 25 years and a maximum of life.
HINOJOSA: Now Glen Harris, in jail for another crime, has signed a statement saying he drove the getaway car for the two people, he says, killed the Tankleffs.
BRUCE BARKET, ATTORNEY FOR TANKLEFF: This packet, in here, contains the evidence that establishes who killed Marty's parents, why Marty was wrongfully convicted and why he ought to be released immediately.
HINOJOSA: On Long Island, the district attorney has agreed to interview the new witness, but has not agreed to seek a new trial. Tankleff's lawyer, Bruce Barket, said there was no forensic evidence linking Martin, then 17, to the murder of his parents. Martin, now in his 30's, continues to maintain his innocence.
TANKLEFF: Plain and simple, I absolutely did not kill my parents.
HINOJOSA (on camera): Barket said evidence pointed to a possible conspiracy involving Tankleff's former business partner, who owed him hundreds of thousands of dollars and fled New York shortly after the murders, assuming a new identity. Prosecutors dismissed him as a possible suspect at the time and brought him back to testify against Martin Tankleff.
Maria Hinojosa, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Still ahead, the Gitmo chaplain suspected of espionage. An exclusive interview just before his arrest.
"The Spying Game" -- tricks of the trade.
And Lisa Kudrow talks about "Friends" and porn.
We'll be right back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Time for "The Reset," tonight's top stories.
Washington -- as the president kept to a schedule today, members of Congress, including a few Republicans, turned up the heat on the probe into the leak of a CIA operative's name. Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, a former federal prosecutor, said Attorney General John Ashcroft might consider recusing himself from the leak investigation because of his ties to presidential aide Karl Rove.
Also in Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the Pentagon will not take a closer look at Arab or Muslim members of the military because of the spy probe at Gitmo. Three Muslim workers, including an army chaplain, have been arrested at the facility where more than 600 al Qaeda and Taliban suspects are being held. More on that in just a moment.
The Centers for Disease Control say there's no proof the mandatory waiting periods and weapons ban reduce gun violence. The agency also says that the report isn't saying that gun laws don't work, but that more study is needed, although it doesn't plan any.
And the White House -- or excuse me -- the House voted to ban the so-called partial birth abortion procedures. The measure now goes to the Senate and could be on the president's desk within days. Abortion rights are promising to challenge the constitutionality of the measure, if it becomes law.
Federal prisoners and parolees won't have to give blood for the FBI's DNA database. An appeals court says the three-year-old law requiring blood samples is unconstitutional, calling it an illegal invasion of privacy.
And that's tonight's "Reset."
Now, the possible espionage at Gitmo. As we mentioned, Army Captain James Yee is one of three men being held on suspicion of spying and treason in connection with detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay. No charges yet brought against him. Still in custody though.
Tonight, we have an exclusive report from CNN's national correspondent Mike Boettcher, who has had access to Captain Yee's revealing last interview.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this, his last interview before his arrest, Captain Yee was clear about how he wanted to be addressed.
ASHWIN RAHMAN, JOURNALIST: So what name would you refer yourself to?
CAPTAIN JAMES YEE, ARMY CHAPLAIN: Chaplain Yousef.
BOETTCHER: The man who conducted the interview, veteran journalist Ashwin Rahman, a German of Indian descent, say he has his doubts that Yee is everything he's cracked up to be. Fluent Arabic speaker, knowledgeable student of Islam and possible spy.
Rahman says he had his doubts after the first handshake.
RAHMAN: The traditional way of greeting anybody (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which means good morning, good afternoon, hello and it's instinctively (SPEAKING IN ARABIC) but this man replied with (SPEAKING IN ARABIC). So this was a bit strange.
BOETTCHER: In the interview, Yee, who allegedly spent four years in Syria studying Arabic and Islam, admitted he spoke only broken Arabic.
RAHMAN: So you don't speak Arabic or Urdu or...
YEE: I know a little bit of Arabic, but that's necessary if you want to recite the Koran.
BOETTCHER: Yee said he had access to all the detainees, but left it unclear how he actually communicated with them.
RAHAMN: Some of them would be talking Arabic. So -- they -- you won't need interpreters, would you?
YEE: Yes, there are -- there is a whole section of interpreters here to facilitate communication between detainees and any U.S. military personnel.
BOETTCHER: Most puzzling was Rahman was Yee's refusal or inability to say what branch of Islam he followed.
RAHMAN: Are you a Shia or a Suni?
YEE: I'm a Muslim chaplain serving in the United States military.
RAHMAN: I kept on asking him if he was a Shia or a Sunni, because you can't be a Muslim and be nothing of -- neither of the two. If a Sunni learns that he's a Shia, he won't talk to him. And vice versa.
BOETTCHER: Rahman, who has worked extensively in the Islamic world, says he was left with a sense that Yee was more a Muslim romantic than a fundamentalist spy.
RAHAMN: I had a feeling that he is one of these kind of person who has -- who has got into this Islamic romantic.
BOETTCHER: The day after this interview, Yee flew off to Jacksonville, where he would later be arrested.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, Frankfurt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Interesting last interview.
We turn now to our continuing series "The Spying Game," our look this week at espionage, including the way spies take out their targets.
Patty Davis has gone through the Spy Museum, checking out some of the exotic tools of the trade.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's Hollywood and James Bond, and then there are the real tricks of the spy trade at the International Spy Museum in Washington.
Lethal gadgets -- this KGB lipstick pistol used during the Cold War.
Bulgarian intelligence used this to silence a dissident.
DAVID MAJOR, INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM: They used this umbrella to embed this small little pellet into his leg that had ricin in there and they killed him. And it was mysterious....
DAVIS: Leave it to good-old American intelligence to come up with this one.
MAJOR: This actually is a transmitter for aircraft to come in for an air airstrike. But you have to put something down there to make sure that nobody picks up. What do you do? They created doggy do.
DAVIS: The KGB used this hidden buttonhole camera in the '50s and later this shoemike to bug diplomats. These gadgets, great, unless you got caught.
(on camera): Then, there's this option the CIA gave its agents in the 1970s, poisonous eye glasses. Chew on the tip and you won't talk, you're dead.
Patty Davis, CNN, at the International Spy Museum in Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, you might think some of these gadgets disappeared after the Cold War, but just last month there was some evidence that secret agents and undercover assassins are still out there. British intelligence is reportedly looking into reports that a Russian assassin was going to try and kill this man, billionaire Russian Boris Beruzovsky (ph), by stabbing him with a poison pen. If it sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, don't be fooled.
For a closer look, at some of the tricks of the trade in "The Spying Game," joining us now the co-authors of "SpyDust," Antonio Mendez, former chief of disguise for the CIA, and Jonna Mendez, formerly of the CIA's Office of Technical Services.
Good to see you both again.
Tony, you know, you hear about these assassination devices and, you know, they totally sound like something out of a movie. You have this lipstick gun to show us.
How is this used?
ANTONIO MENDEZ, CO-AUTHOR "SPY DUST": Yes, actually this is concealed weapon known as the kiss of death. It looks like a lipstick, ordinary lipstick, but, in fact, it is a single shot, 4.5 millimeter pistol and it was used as either an assassination device at close range or as an escape and evasion tool, you take out a sentry with it.
COOPER: As both of you know, and John I'd like to talk to you about this, not all the devices are so high-tech. Robert Hanssen, a man who has been convicted of spying for some 15 years or so, he was using black garbage bags.
JONNA MENDEZ, CO-AUTHOR "SPY DUST": Yes, Bob Hanssen, I think, knew better trade craft than what he practiced when it came to his own operation. He reused his signal sites, he reused his drop sites and instead of a more sophisticated concealment device, he used black plastic trash bags.
COOPER: And so some of his fingerprints were found.
J. MENDEZ: That's how he was finally identified and arrested. He left his fingerprints on those trash bags. Amazing leak, sloppy.
COOPER: Tony, Alger James, what kind of trade craft did he use?
T. MENDEZ: Again, he was using a single mailbox to put his signals up with a piece of chalk and it was poorly located. In both of those cases, nobody really watching that closely, so they got away with really pretty sloppy trade craft in Washington.
COOPER: And Tony, you were involved with a Russian agent who asked for a special kind of pen. Briefly, tell us about it.
T. MENDEZ: Yes. You can conceal all sorts of things in pens. In this case, the agent wanted to be able to take his own life if he were captured. So, we hid, what's called an L pill, in his favorite fountain pen and he then ended up using it when he was apprehended. He was dead when he hit the floor.
COOPER: Unbelievable. Just a fascinating look. And again we appreciate both of you joining us. Tony and Mendez, thank you very much.
T. MENDEZ: Thank you.
COOPER: All right. Our series continues tomorrow. Hope you join us for that.
Rush Limbaugh caught in a prescription drug investigation. Find out more about the painkiller that's as addictive as heroin, say some. Why are millions of Americans getting hooked? We're going to ask Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Also Jerry Garcia has a new drug. Find out his magic in a bottle.
And from "Friends" to "Wonderland," Lisa Kudrow joins us to talk TV and porn.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: More now on the story of Rush Limbaugh. Allegations of prescription drug abuse and a question that some of you may be ask yourselves. What exactly is Oxycontin? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now in Atlanta with some answers. Sanjay, thanks for being with us. What are these drugs? When are they prescribed? And who is taking them?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are heavy duty painkillers. They are pretty well known. They are actually part of a class of drugs called opioids. A lot of these drugs are basically used to treat pain. They're sort of a morphine- like drugs. Most people know morphine is, these are similar to that. They do have a high addiction potential, which is why they've gotten so much attention. And they do have some side effects as well, drowsiness, dizziness, sedation.
I'll tell you a couple of things about these drugs. They're excellent drugs to be taken in the short term for the control of pain. They are drugs that can be potentially addictive though, which is something that people have been focusing their attention on quite a bit lately. They can be very effective for treating pain, as long as it's taken just short term. The addiction part is something people have been wrestling with for some time. Like most painkillers, OxyContin, along with several others, do have this addiction potential -- Anderson.
COOPER: In terms of people who are using it for addiction, obviously, they don't have prescriptions or maybe they started off with prescriptions but they have become addicted. And they're crushing up the pills. I guess, they're snorting them or swallowing them in some cases. Why is that? Does it give you a high more than just relieving pain?
GUPTA: A couple of really important reasons. One is what you just mentioned. The euphoric-type high that you get with these medications is pretty significant. People do feel a little bit of a buzz with these medications. Also, there's something known as withdrawal. Most people think of that with regards to alcohol. It can happen with these narcotics as well.
What happens is, you get so used to taking these medications and get used to that euphoric high, if you stop it, all of a sudden you start to not feel so good.
And also, there is something known as rebound pain. Let's say someone takes the medication for pain and they start taking it long term instead of short term. When you stop it, sometimes that pain can come back with a vengeance. Which sort of leaves the person to continue taking the pills over and over again.
Certainly some high-profile cases. The medication that you hear of so much, Vicodin, OxyContin, the crushing up thing is called a hillbilly heroin actually, in some parts of the country, because people actually crush up the OxyContin and snort it. That is something the drug industry, as well as the drug enforcement agencies have been trying to curb.
COOPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you very much for the update.
GUPTA: Good seeing you.
COOPER: Every show, every time in this time around the program, we like to dip our toe in the pop culture current. Here's what is going on tonight. A judge has ruled that a Dearborn High School student has the right to wear a t-shirt calling President Bush an international terrorist. Not sure if the ruling clears the way for the John Ashcroft thong, but hey, it might, you never know.
MTV is shooting a new documentaries a series inside a jail. The series is expected to discourage young people from crime, but it may also give MTV better access to some of today's biggest music stars.
A California winery is launching a line of Jerry Garcia wines including a chardonnay, merlot and zinfandel. One rejected slogan, "it couldn't taste better if the grapes were crushed with Jerry's own feet." All right, we made that slogan up, but wouldn't it might have been a good one?
And if this doesn't make you feel old, another group is reuniting for another road trip. Duran Duran will hit 16 U.S. cities. Gen Xers around the countries are moaning. The band decided to tour again, get this, after 18 years away from the stage. They've been away for over 18 years? After deciding not to tour under the name Duran and Garfunkel. Good for them.
Coming up next on 360, if you've ever wanted to see Lisa Kudrow in a porn wonderland, well, hey we have news for you and we'll even ask her how she got there.
Also, has television news focused too much on one aspect of the California election at the expense of others? Overkill: it's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA KUDROW, ACTOR: I don't want a fresh start with you, John. Wake up. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Listen.
KUDROW: No, you listen. I am through supporting you. What did you think I would just leave and never see my family again. You have gone too far this time pal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang on, if you don't help me with this, I'm dead.
KUDROW: You're already dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It's not the friend you're used to. That's Lisa Kudrow in her latest role as Sharon Holmes (ph) wife of the late porn star John Holmes (ph) in the movie "Wonderland" which opens tomorrow in New York and L.A. It is a bit of a departure for the comic actress, who entrenched the phrase "smelly cat" into the lexicon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, don't. Stop cleansing my (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COOPER: Like the rest of her friends, Lisa Kudrow was a virtual unknown when she landed the role Phoebe a decade ago. Now she's finishing up "Friends" as one of the best paid, most powerful actresses on TV today playing the dits with 1,000 rhymes.
KUDROW: So I thought, you know, if I worked with stocks, I'd have to live in a box and only eat locks and have a pet fox.
COOPER: The lovable new aged flake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, which of you is the father?
KUDROW: None of them is the father. The father is my brother.
COOPER: The type cast never fit the woman or the actress. She has already proven versatile in film as Bill Crystals high strung main squeeze in "Analyze This" and "That."
KUDROW: Of course I'm upset. My wedding is ruined. And you've got problems.
COOPER: As the Michelle half of "Romy and Michelle."
KUDROW: I am so cuter. It's like common knowledge Romy everyone things so.
COOPER: As the harden cynic in "The Opposite of Sex."
KUDROW: You're gay, you, jerk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm bisexual.
KUDROW: Please, I went to a Bar Mitzvah once, that doesn't make me Jewish.
COOPER: And know maybe her biggest departure yet.
KUDROW: It's a payoff. You should understand that term. I'm paying you off to stay out of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Anyone who looks at Kudrow and sees only Phoebe, "Wonderland" might stop that. Portraying a porn star wife is about as different from "Must See TV" as you can possible get. Earlier, I talked to Lisa Kudrow about playing that porn star's wife and saying good-bye to "Friends."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Were you familiar John Holmes (UNINTELLIGIBLE) if you will.
KUDROW: A little bit. I'd never really seen one and I still didn't really, even when I made this because I didn't think I needed to, Sharon didn't.
COOPER: Because there woman you're playing, the wife of John Holmes didn't know at the time he porn star.
KUDROW: She found out two years into his career that that's what he was doing.
COOPER: How did she find out?
KUDROW: She told me she was driving home from work. She was a nurse at a hospital driving home. And saw (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on the street and there was his name in an X-rated movie.
COOPER: Unbelievable.
KUDROW: That's how she found out.
COOPER: She works as a consultant on the film.
KUDROW: Yes.
COOPER: What was that like actually meeting the person you're playing?
KUDROW: That was great. It was really helpful because she told me a lot more and gave me a lot more background than what was in the story of the movie.
COOPER: Did you like any of the characters in the movie?
Because it is a seedy bunch, not just that they were doing porn flicks -- a lot of heavy drug use.
KUDROW: They were all really tragic and mostly, one thing I liked about this story and the script was that John Holmes was mostly just pathetic because he was so desperate, so deep into his drug addiction at that time.
COOPER: At the time this film is based on, he was no longer -- really no longer had a porn career.
KUDROW: He couldn't perform any more because he was...
COOPER: I got it.
KUDROW: He was deep into his addiction there.
COOPER: Really?
KUDROW: Yes. He literally couldn't perform any more.
COOPER: Wow.
Is films your future or are you going to stick with TV or try to do both?
KUDROW: Well, I'll see what I'm allowed to do.
COOPER: What do you mean allowed to do.
Can't you do just about anything?
KUDROW: No.
COOPER: No? You're like this huge superstar.
Come on you are.
KUDROW: Big hard laugh.
COOPER: No, but can't you do anything you want?
KUDROW: No. One really can't just say, you know what I'm going to do another very successful TV show. You can't do that. A lot of people tried. I think only Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore.
COOPER: You say can't because audiences won't buy it or -- I mean, probably Hollywood executives that would allow you to do it, it's just a question of you'd don't think it would be successful.
KUDROW: I don't think it would be successful. I think, you know, the TV public is used to seeing me be Phoebe. If I show up as something different on TV, it's too -- they wouldn't...
COOPER: And is that all right with you?
I mean, I guess it's not a bad gig only doing movies.
KUDROW: No, whatever I'm allowed to do, I'll do.
COOPER: Lisa Kudrow, thank you for being with us.
KUDROW: Thank you.
COOPER: All right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: All right, time for "Overkill."
There are a number of candidates for this "Overkill" segment, but with the California election just five days away, we had to go with it. It's not just the sheer quantity of coverage that qualifies it for "Overkill," it's also the type of coverage. See if you can spot a common thread. Take a look at these see if you can see a common thread in some recent coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New poll numbers in California look bad for Governor Gray Davis and good for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No doubt tonight, if you believe the latest polls that he is the leading candidate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arnold Schwarzenegger surges ahead, again, up from that poll in mid-September.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Not much on the issues actually facing California, the staggering deficit, immigration issues, education. Plenty on polls, though, even from newscasters who should know better. One poll shows him sprinting ahead in the final stretch, which means Governor Gray Davis is running hard and fast to try to catch up.
Will that guy never learn?
That's are "Overkill" (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for tonight.
Coming up next on 360, is there anyone who can investigate the administration CIA leak without a conflict of interest?
We may have just the man.
And tomorrow, our "Spying Game Series" concludes with a look at how spies are made. How the espionage agencies find the spies of tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight, "The Nth Degrees" of separation. They're howling for an independent council to investigate the administration leak of a CIA operative's name. Republicans are howling, that Democrats are howling because of politics. So, let's take a look at the facts. Right now Attorney General John Ashcroft is ultimately responsible for the investigation, but Ashcroft was appointed by Mr. Bush, of course. And, Ashcroft has previously gotten elect with the help of Karl Rove, the presidential adviser around whom suspicion is now swirling. Plus the man directly in charge of the investigation is John Dion (ph).
They're not releasing his photo, so we have to use a photo of Deon (ph) instead. Dions bosses, bosses, boss is Assistant Attorney General Robert McCallum. He was at Yale with his friend George Bush. But Republicans point out Joe Wilson is a supporter of presidential candidate John Kerry. And one report said the leak about Wilson's wife was also pitched to NBC's Andrea Mitchell who is married to Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan who controls interest rates that effect millions upon millions of American's many of whom may vote next. Ultimately there is only one man to investigate, that's right actor Kevin Bacon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Campaign? Rush Limbaugh Drug Probe>
